Killzone: Mercenary
Killzone: Mercenary is a first-person shoot designed from the ground up for the PlayStation Vita. It was developed by Guerrilla Cambridge. Additionaly, It is the second hand-held title in the Killzone Series, and fifth overall. The game makes use of several cutscenes from other games in the series. Plot Starting just after the ending of the original Killzone, and revisiting many of the events from the Killzone trilogy, the game puts players in the rugged combat boots of a rookie mercenary named Arran Danner. Danner is a former UCA-soldier who has no qualms about taking on paid contracts from the ISA as well as the Helghast. The game starts with Danner, his partner Ivanoff, and their boss Anders Benoit arriving in the strategic Vektan city Diortem on a mission to rescue ISA Admiral Grey from Helghast forces. Danner and Ivanoff make their way to a skyscraper opposite the Justice building where Grey is being held, and fly down to it in glide suits. They arrive where Grey is being interrogated and wounded by Helghast Colonel Kratek. The duo manages to extract her to the ISA. They then attack Kratek's cruiser while it was undergoing extensive repairs. Unfortunately, Ivanoff was forced to sacrifce himself to help Danner escape. Two years later, PTC is assigned to help spearhead the ISA invasion of Helghan, Danner is sent to rescue the Vektan ambassador who is trapped in the embassy. The mission goes awry as the family and their personal Helghast guard dies protecting their young son and Danner. It was revealed that he has the keys to activating a deadly biological weapon if used would wipe out the entire Vekta population. When Danner finally extradites the boy to Benoit, he reveals Grey was planning to use this weapon to finally wipe out the entire Helghast population once modified and betrays Danner. Danner then works for the Helghast forces to prevent the ISA from making use of the weapon, killing Grey in the progress. However Blackjack reveals that Benoit intends to take over the mercenary company and seize complete control over it, allowing the Corporations to easily manipulate the colonies as well as Kratek was intending to betray them once he reacquired the virus. Planning their escape, Danner faces Benoit one last time and defeats him and his force of mercenaries and escapes with the boy. With their identities hidden and the weapon finally destroyed, the war continues and it was revealed Blackjack had sold massive amounts of radiation treatment medication to the ISA before the Red Dust detonation over Pyrrhus, and used the nuclear disaster to make a profit. Gameplay Mercenary is made up of three distinct modes: campaign, contracts, and multiplayer. Mercenary's campaign is made up of nine missions, all of which can be played on various difficulties. Once the player completes a mission, they are given access to three contracts. These contracts require players to replay missions, while completing demolition, covert, or precision-related objectives. Unlike previous titles in the Killzone series, players now earn in-game cash for completing various tasks (e.g. killing hostiles, picking up ammo, using explosives). In terms of multiplayer, players are given a total of six medium-sized maps. Mercenary's multiplayer modes consist of Mercenary Warfare (free for all), Guerilla Warfare (team deathmatch), and Warzone (objective based deathmatch). Also new to the series is the valor card system. In multiplayer, deceased hostiles and allies will drop a valor card. Once the player has picked them up, the cards will be instantly added to the players "deck". Once a player has completed a deck, they are rewarded with large cash rewards. Mercenary also takes advantage of the PlayStation Vita's features. Brutal Melee can now be executed via the Vita's touchscreen. Swiping in a specific direction within the time limit will result in a successful kill. Interrogations are also carried out via the touchscreen. Additionally, sprinting can also be accessed by double tapping the Vita's rear touch pad. Development At gamescom 2012, it was revealed that the title is Killzone: Mercenary. The game utilizes a modified version of the Killzone 3 rendering engine, allowing volumetric lighting and smoke, high-res environment textures, gleaming metal, and realistic-looking shadows. Unlike the previous Killzone installments, Mercenary was not developed by Guerrilla Games, but instead, their sister studio, Guerrilla Cambridge (formerly known as SCE Cambridge Studio). Because of the refined damage model, the weapons apparently "feel slightly more powerful" than those in previous installments. Multiplayer Beta In the weeks prior to Mercenary's release, Guerrila Cambridge hosted a private beta for select Vita owners to participate in. The beta featured practically all the contents released in the final product. The beta was meant to promote Mercenary, as well as to inform Cambridge on any requests related to Mercenary's multiplayer. About a week before launching, Guerilla gave PS Plus members free access to the beta, before making it entirely public. Reception Killzone: Mercenary was received well by critics. IGN's Colin Moriarty gave it an 8/10, calling it the greatest handheld shooter on the market. Destructoid's Jim Sterling also gave it an 8/10, calling it ambitious. It currently holds an average score of 78/100 on Metacritic. In terms of sales, Mercenary had a strong launch. It raked in over $11,000 in it's first week in Japan. It's currently the 15th best selling Vita game. Trivia * For the first time in a Killzone campaign, players will be fighting alongside both Helghast and ISA forces. * It is the first first-person shooter Killzone game on a handheld. 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